Wow

This is a long post and only my story so read at your own risk***

I have been struggling for a while, I mean years even, with how much time I spend saying" just a minute buddy" "I can't watch that right now, I need to finish vacuuming or dusting or mopping or cooking....... the list goes on and on. I realize that all of that can wait, but when I am in the middle of something like that, it is so hard for me to stop.. You see, I feel like being a mother and a wife is my sole purpose in this life that the Lord has blessed me with.

I feel like I was meant to stay home and school my children. To be a loving, Godly wife to my husband. To be his help meet and to love our children up in the Lord. I take this blessing Very seriously.... But...... I get so caught up in making our home look good so that when Matt gets home he feels good, that I catch myself putting Grayson off when he wants to share....

WHAT AM I DOING??????? I want to make sure dinner is ready when Matt gets home so that he can eat and not have to wait on me to finish up that I miss out on my precious sons funny little moments..... WHY..... FOR WHAT????

My husband could care less that dinner is 5 minutes late. My children and husband could care less that there are toys in the floor a couple of dishes in the sink.....
Don't get me wrong, keeping the home is so important to me and I will continue to feel that way and do the things I need to. But, I have always known how quickly life passes us by... I have known how very fast my children grow and that I DO NOT get that precious time back. It has weighed on me for a long time and I have been reading a book that has truly opened my eyes....
I would like to share some of the things that I have learned and chosen to do.

There are 2 major time suckers that keep us from spending those precious seconds that you may think at the time are no big deal but oh how they could impact your family (children) in profound ways....
1. Extracurricular****
Extracurricular means extra time. I mean have you noticed all the things kids HAVE to be involved in these days??? Wow, my parents wouldn't even think about letting my siblings and I be involved in everything that is out there now... We had to pick 1 sport each yr and that was it!!! First of all, I see why they did it. They couldn't truck us around everywhere. We couldn't afford to be part of it all and my parents thought it was very important for us to watch each other in our sport. I am so glad they did that. I developed such a close relationship with my brother and sister bc of our support for one another. I am def. not saying that children have to watch their siblings do their thing in order to support and love them... I am just saying that I know it created support in MY family. So we have decided as a family to let the kids choose 1 maybe 2 sports if they do not interrupt the other... There is some pressure to do because the other kids are doing but I remind myself that I am God's daughter. We are here to please him in raising our children, no one else... The bible says" Are you tired? Worn out?.... Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life."
I want my children to be content with the mundane. To find excitement in the word and realize that its not always about doing... Being involved in so many things causes me to rush and be quick tempered with my children and I will not be sucked in to that any longer.....

2. This is my biggie.... CLEANING........ Whoever said "Cleanliness is next to Godliness"????
The desire to have a clean house can steal so much of my time... Not only my time, but it also steals my patience and my joy as I struggle to get it all done.... I'm doing it for the family, right???? It has been said that "Cleaning a home with a preschooler is like shoveling snow in a snowstorm" Next to impossible to get it all done and for it to stay that way.

I have decided that this problem of mine is stealing these precious moments and I will not do it any longer.... I will clean my house but I will not let it take priority over my precious children that the Lord has blessed me with..... Don't get me wrong, I love on my babies most of the day. I probably spend more time with my children than most people are able to. I just realize that in the moments that I am trying to get things done I seem to put them off more than I should... And that has to stop.... I do not want them to feel like a burden to me. They are the most wonderful non burdens of my life.... I love everything about them. So I want them to know just how much I cherish them. I want them to never wonder if I care enough to listen, even to the little silly things.... I love the little silly things and I don't only want to hear them in the car or when I have a minute...I Want to hear them when I'm busy so that my children know that what they have to say is important enough for me to listen... So I have decided to make this a focus.

It will be a struggle, I know it will be something I have to work very hard to remind myself of.
Here is a little poem that I have printed and is hanging on my fridge to help be a reminder.

Love in the Home

If I live in a house of spotless beauty with everything in its place,

But have not love, I am a housekeeper- not a homemaker.

If I have time for waxing, polishing, and decorative achievements,

But have not love, my children learn cleanliness- not Godliness.

Love leaves the dust in search of a child's laugh.

Love smiles at the tiny fingerprints on a newly cleaned window.

Love wipes away the tears before it wipes up the spilled milk.

Love picks up the child before it picks up the toys.

Love is present through the trials.

Love reprimands, reproves, and is responsive.

Love crawls with the baby, walks with the toddler, runs with the child,

Then stands aside to let the youth walk into adulthood.

Love is the key that opens salvation's message to a child's heart.

Before I became a mother I took glory in my house of perfection.

Now I glory in God's perfection of my child.

As a mother, there is much I must teach my child,

But the greatest of these is LOVE.....

I def. know that children need to learn to be patient and to wait for things in life sometimes, but never should they feel that they have to wait for their Mothers attention... That is my job... The job I was given by a father that knows exactly what he is doing.

How often do you meet someone that says I wish I had spent less time with my children???

I am convicted but I will not look back. I will start now, trying to be less stressed with the pressures of the day and more and more relish in the precious seconds with my babies....

Help me learn how to rest in you and enjoy my days. Help me to see my children's faces before I see the mess. Trim my schedule as you see fit Lord. Learning to rest.